The Home Office has launched an investigation. PoliticsHome revealed that asylum seekers across the United Kingdom have been using taxpayer-funded payment cards to gamble.
It issues an ASPEN card to asylum seekers when they enter the United Kingdom. The Home Office intends asylum seekers to use these cards to purchase essential items. This support continues while they await a decision on their asylum claim.
Asylum seekers living in initial accommodation, typically fully catered hotels, receive £9.95 per week on their ASPEN card. Once they move to self-catered accommodation, the Home Office gives them £49.18 per week.
These cards are intended for food, toiletries, clothes and other necessities. PoliticsHome has learned that yet, some asylum seekers have successfully used ASPEN cards to gamble.
Across the United Kingdom, 6,537 asylum seekers used ASPEN cards in gambling settings over the past year. People made attempts on a weekly basis. This is according data received in response to a Freedom of Information request.
At the highest incidence, 227 asylum seekers attempted to use or successfully used the cards to gamble in a single week last November. At the lowest, 40 asylum seekers did so in a week last July.
ASPEN cards operate on a chip and pin basis only. This means the large majority of asylum seekers used them in physical sites like casinos, slot machine arcades and national lottery retailers. The system blocked them each time they attempted to use the cards for online gambling.
A Home Office source told PoliticsHome that the Home Office has begun an investigation into the use of ASPEN cards.
The spokesperson added that The Home Office has a legal obligation to support asylum seekers, including any dependents, who would otherwise be destitute.
